Illinois Governor Drafts Plan

Medications Would Come From Canada

September 15, 2003|By Ceci Connolly The Washington Post

Facing budget-breaking increases in prescription drug bills, the governor of Illinois took the first step Sunday toward purchasing lower-cost medications from Canada, a move that puts him in direct conflict with federal regulators and signals a dramatic escalation in the civil war over U.S. drug prices.

What began a decade ago with busloads of senior citizens trekking across the border in search of cheaper medicines has mushroomed into a nationwide rebellion. It has spread from small, nonprofit groups to the private sector, and now, to local and state officials who are defiantly ignoring warnings by the Bush administration and the pharmaceutical industry that drug reimportation is dangerous and illegal.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, said he has directed the Illinois Special Advocate to draft a plan for buying inexpensive medications in Canada for as many as 240,000 state employees and retirees.

"The status quo on prescription drugs is intolerable and unacceptable," Blagojevich said in an interview Sunday. This year, the state is spending $340 million on prescriptions for its workforce, a 15 percent increase over last year.

"I am optimistic we will be able to save literally millions of dollars for the taxpayers and set a precedent other states will follow."

Although Illinois would become the first state to pursue Canadian drug purchases for its workers, Blagojevich joins a much larger trend. Even as Congress debates whether formally to legalize the practice, millions of Americans -- including horse breeders in New Jersey, a retirement village in Ohio and the mayor of Springfield, Mass. -- have decided the financial savings are too large to pass up. Despite its claim that the practice is illegal, the FDA has generally looked the other way.

"In my opinion the pharmaceutical corporations and the lobbyists have an absolute stranglehold on Washington," said Springfield Mayor Michael Albano. Since July, he has enrolled more than 800 city employees in a voluntary program that covers maintenance medications bought from a Canadian wholesaler.

Before launching the effort, Albano traveled to Canada to check out CanaRx and then became the first client, ordering his son's insulin and diabetes supplies from the company. To attract participants, the city waived co-payments on medications bought through the Internet service.

The switch saved Albano $250 this year and the city $852 for his family's medications.